YRC Methods

The Youth Research Council is committed to building inclusive, collaborative and transformative experiential learning of social sciences for social change. The YRC engages Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), a type of community-engaged research designed and conducted by youth, in collaboration with adult mentors. YPAR utilizes a broad social science research tool kit: surveys, observation/field notes, experiments, interviews, and archival analysis, and also innovates its methods and dissemination strategies, which may include digital testimonials, arts-based methods such as Photovoice and spoken-word poetry and rapid research or sidewalk science for social impact. YPAR engages research for identification of systems-level, institutional and community-based problems and solutions and is driven by the local expertise and knowledge held by youth about their experiences, their schools, and their communities.